LITERARY DISCOURSE: Word Formation Part Three

IntroductionIn a previous lecture, we started WORD FORMATION, and today we continue from BLENDING. Before we proceed, we recap the Learning Outcomes.

Learning OutcomesBy the end of this lecture, fellow students and readers should be able to increase their understanding of:

The definition of Word Formation

The various processes of Word Formation

Blending

Blending is the process in which parts of two or more words combine to form a new word whose meaning is often a combination of the original words. Below are examples:

advertisement + entertainment → advertainment

television + broadcast → telecast

breakfast + lunch → brunch

motor + hotel → motel

simultaneous + broadcast → simulcast

smoke + fog → smog

Spanish + English → Spanglish

spoon + fork → spork

telephone + marathon → telethon

web + seminar → webinar

Examples in usage:

Chantiwuni is the ADVERTAINMENT Manager at Radio Maachandi.

Dagbon State TV TELECASTS an interesting documentary on Asante Kingdom every week.

Divela prefers BRUNCH to lunch.

Kataale owns a big MOTEL at Sagnarigu.

Azinpaga speaks SPANGLISH fluently.

Chalpang used SPORK to eat ‘tuubaani’ last night.

Students of Zogbeli Institute of Liberal Arts attended a WEBINAR on Public Speaking yesterday.

Blended words are also referred to as PORTMANTEAUS. The word “portmanteau” itself is a product of two French words: PORTER (to carry) and MANTEAU (a cloak). It was first used by Lewis Caroll in ‘Through the Looking Glass’ where Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of some unusual words (Ansah, 2015).

It is significant to state the differences between BLENDING and COMPOUNDING. While two full words combine to form a new word in COMPOUNDING, parts of two or more words come together to create a new word in BLENDING. Abbreviation

Abbreviation is a word formation process in which a word or phrase is shortened. This implies that the initial letters (of the word or the phrase) are considered as the word or the phrase. Although abbreviation is largely a convention of written language, sometimes it is found in spoken language. See examples:

Written Abbreviations

Apr. – April

cm – centimeter(s)

dept. – department

Dr. – doctor

Jr. – Junior

Mr. – Mister

Examples in usage:

Dr. SAS is a legal luminary.

Gbewaa Jr. was the mate of Timtooni at Batangyili Senior High School.

Mr. Suhudoo is an intimate friend of mine.

Spoken-Written Abbreviations

A.M. – Ante Meridiem [in the morning]

B.C.E. – Before Common Era

i.e. – id est [that is]

OJ – Orange Juice

PMS – Premenstrual Syndrome

RSVP – Répondez S’il Vous Plait

VIP – Very Important Person

Acronym

An acronym is a word formed by the process in which an initialism is pronounced as a single word. For instance, ECOWAS is an acronym for Economic Community of West African States that is pronounced as the single word ECOWAS. However, OAU is an initialism for Organisation of African Unity that is spoken as the three letters O-A-U. It is therefore an abbreviation. Other examples of acronyms in English include:

ASAP – as soon as possible

AWOL – Absent Without Leave

laser – Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

PIN – Personal Identification Number

radar – Radio Detection and Ranging

TESOL – Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages

ECOWAS – Economic Community of West African States

NAB – National Accreditation Board.

Examples in usage:

Wunnam will return from school ASAP.

One needs a PIN to open an account on the website of Literary Discourse.

RADAR is a safety gadget of an aeroplane.

TESOL is a lucrative area of Adult Education in many countries.

ECOWAS organised a special summit on Climate Change in Abuja two years ago.

NAB has ordered International University College of Guluma (IUCG) to stop Communication Studies for non-affiliation and non-accreditation.

NOTE: It is instructive to state that some linguists treat ABBREVIATION as part of ACRONYM. In this sense, ACRONYM is of two main types – (a) where the initial letters of the word are pronounced individually and (b) where the initial letters of the word are pronounced as a single word (Wiredu, 2009).

To be continued.By Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq Azindoo, Coordinator of Students and University Relations, University of Applied Management (UAM), Germany – Ghana Campus, McCarthy Hill, Accra and Tamale